"My novel came before the story: I decided to write a novel before I knew what to write about. The story wasn’t burning in my heart or bursting to be let loose on the page. It didn’t feel like there was this one story that I had to tell. But I have always been fascinated by why people do the things they do. While trying to come up with ideas for my novel, I decided on a story that explored that."

"Although his position on the family tree could not be described in anything less than seven sentences, Odinkemmelu was introduced to us as our cousin."

"It would have to be one of those dangerous pieces of advice that people dish out all over the place. A particularly popular one is: Follow your heart. What if the person’s heart is leading them into a dungeon of doom? What if the person’s heart is filled with foolishness? ‘Follow your heart’ is not just unwise counsel; it is a recipe for anarchy. Imagine a world where each of us followed our heart to wherever it led us, without caring for the people around us or the laws of the land."

"He brought out an it-was-white handkerchief from his trouser pocket and wiped the sweat from his brows."

"When a tragedy befalls his family, Kingsley learns the hardest lesson of all: education may be the language of success in Nigeria, but it's money that does the talking."

"I spit out everything onto the page, from beginning to end, and then go back and edit. I’m one of those people who like to tick off things on my to-do list; so, it helps me psychologically to get to the end first, and then settle down to revise."

"My tender triceps started grumbling"

"I believe this was their way of ensuring we understood our heritage, where we came from, who we were and what we stood for. I think that is really key for any child to know who they are and be proud and confident in that.""

"....The prestige African literature enjoys globally today is a result of the ground-breaking work done by Achebe (especially with his Things Fall Apart) and a few other writers like him."

"In a society, a woman should be able to tolerate others, work with others and maintain a very humble attitude towards others but at the same time be herself."

"My mum always taught us not to expect favours but to work hard to make our way in life and to aim to get things through merit."

"Men and women complement each other in a home and in the society at large. God has given each a place, a role and responsibilities. It does not make one any better than the other or give any the right to lord it over or ill-treat the other."

"Bombing the Terrorists with planes from the skies is not enough, we have to go to the source of their sinning souls and bomb them, condemn them and shame them, with all the power of our pens, our computers, our smartphones and our creative works!"

"Our writers must continue to educate our people and promote the cause of nation-building by producing powerful, inspiring and enduring works of art."

"I am sure you will like this gin. Nwabuzo had it buried in the ground last year when there was rumour that policemen were sent to search her house. When the policemen left, finding nothing, Nwabuzo was still afraid and left it in the ground. A week later, she fell ill and was rushed to the hospital where she remained for six months. She came back only a week ago. So the gin is a very good one."

"They did not see the reason why Adizua should not marry another woman since according to them two men do not live together. To them Efuru was a man, since she could not reproduce."

"As Adiewere and Efuru were eating, a troop of children with shining tummies in front of them were seen approaching. "These children are just in time. The way they time themselves is admirable."

"If I am considered the doyenne of African female writers, the glory goes to the oral historians and griottes who mesmerized me with stories about the mystical powers of Ogbuide, the mother of the lake, my family members of industrious women and men who served as role models, as well as my penchant for service and the pursuit of excellence."

"Efuru told him that she would drown herself in the lake if he did not marry her. Adizua told her he loved her very much and that even the dust she trod on meant something to him."

"When Efuru went home, Ajanupu could not help admiring her character. "She is a woman among women. I like the way she is carrying her burden. She still loves that imbecile husband of hers and she is going in search of him."

"There is no problem in this world that cannot be solved."

"What can a woman do? You say everyday. In the end, a woman does something, and even then still you look down on women."

"There was nothing in me when I was in school that made me feel I was going to be a writer. It was one of those things that just happened. I didn’t have the ambition to say, “Oh, Flora, you are going to be a writer, so work towards it"

"We are well, Efuru replied. It is only hunger. It is good that it is only hunger. Good health is what we pray for."

"We should, I think, proceed to enquire into what we mean by ideals - or rather, to examine, critically, the nature of those acts which to us appear to be outward manifestations of idealisms."

"I don’t think that I’m a radical feminist,”"

"The novel captures the ongoing changes in Nigerian society where women strive for (economic) independence and personal happiness and growth rather than a life within the boundaries of an outdated tradition. In stressing the economic independence of women, Nwapa reminded me of Virginia Woolf and her essay “A Room Of One’s Own”."

"He who waits will see what is in the grass."

"A maiden is one of those things a man must not trust. By Allah, it is!"

"You pay twenty head of cattle for a maiden because you are excited. Then when your head is cool, you begin to say "If I had known!"

"I say there has been a war. If a fish comes out of the water and says the crocodile has one eye, who has been there with him?"

"Not a war. But then, it was a war. When the forest burns do the locusts stop to say goodbye?"

"Night might convert the old devil into a fiend."

"On the day of death, there is no medicine."

"....Tonight, one of you is going to win the hand of my daughter Zarah. But he must be the bravest of you all. We live in times when a man’s might is his right."

"the cry of someone in great pain, a person who immediate help would mean everything."

"Women have always been powerful and striven to achieve financial independence. I wanted a politics that fought for expanding and nurturing the power that women already had. It is not that I believed that there was no such thing as gender inequality. I just did not want to see a woman as a victim but as someone who was always enterprising and looking for ways to undermine the systems of power that tried to put her down."

"can you hear me now? I shall not rest, for I shall know no peace until I have avenged you."

"We may differ in the language we speak, yet we all remain children of the land."

"I don’t even accept that I’m a feminist. I accept that I’m an ordinary woman who is writing about what she knows. I try to project the image of women positively."

"Contrary to Woolf, who I personally always found to be overly dramatic and elitist, and, thus, exclusive, in her viewpoints and demands to literature and feminism, Nwapa did not think of herself as a feminist. At the same time, she is crucially aware of the misrepresentation of women in literature by fellow male authors who tend to display women as prostitutes or mischievous creatures, all of which Nwapa counteracts in her own writing by displaying women as positive, independent and real as they are."

"We want a new life, new opportunities ... We want to live there for some time -- but only for some time ! We have our homeland here and must come back when we can answer your father's challenge ! When we have done something, become something!"

"His motto had become money, money, money. This was the way people of the city realized themselves."

"But now things are different. Yes, things are gradually passing into African hands. Soon al the power will be in our hands. It's worth fighting for."

"Inverse of the word live is evil."

"Maybe true travel is not the transportation of the body, but a change of perception, renewing the mind."

"How the city attracts all types and how the unwary must suffer from ignorance of its ways."

"He looked out of the window, as if the interview gave him some pain, and for a moment I studied him silently."

"To see the madness and yet walk a perfect silver line. ... That's what the true story-teller should be: a great guide, a clear mind, who can walk a silver line in hell or madness."

"If we could be pure dancers in spirit we would never be afraid to love, and we would love with strength and wisdom."